NASP Convention Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How are the convention locations determined?

A. Locations for the NASP convention are selected based on a number of criteria: desirability of the city (points of interest, nightlife, etc.); ease/cost of getting there; and hotel(s) availability, costs, and capacity to meet our convention requirements. The selection process starts 5-7 years in advance. NASP puts out a request for proposals to prospective hotels that includes a list of specifications on which to bid. Room rates are always an important consideration as well as timing (e.g., avoiding religious holidays and accommodating the general school calendar). In recent years as the size of the convention has grown, NASP has also considered the availability of adjacent hotels or even the possibility of using small convention centers. Potential host cities and hotels then submit proposals to NASP, which are reviewed by the NASP office staff who also consider issues such as the properties’ available meeting space, exhibit hall capacity, and reputation as a convention host. Ultimately the proposals are paired down to 2 or 3 clearly superior bids. For larger cities, there may even be competing hotel proposals. A team (usually consisting of the NASP Director of Meetings and Conventions, the Executive Director, and the Convention Chair) then visits the properties to assess the physical aspects of the properties and the amenities of the surrounding area/city. After final touches are put on the most appealing bids through negotiation, the information is presented to the NASP delegate assembly who votes on the final decision.

Why no resort hotels? In general, room rates for resorts cannot be negotiated to a level comparable to the general bid specifications. In addition, resorts often have smaller capacity than necessary or are located more expensive travel destinations. The objective is to find the right sized property, at a reasonable price, in an area that will be appealing to our attendees.

Q. Who is in charge of the convention?

A. The NASP Convention team is comprised of a combination of members from the NASP staff, NASP leadership, and convention volunteers. Staff members include the NASP Executive Director, the Meetings and Conventions Director, the Manager for Meetings and Conventions, & the Director for Marketing and Communications. NASP leadership is involved through the participation of the current NASP President, the Program Manager for Professional Development and the Chair of the Professional Growth Committee. Convention volunteers consist of the Convention Committee Chair, and Co-Chairs for Program, Exhibits, Career Service, Volunteers, Workshops, Local Arrangements (2), and Local Students (2).

The process for planning the convention begins immediately following a convention. Each area co-chair is responsible for preparing a report based on review of evaluations and experiences amassed during the year and at the previous convention. The reports form the basis for the convention planning meeting that takes place in late spring at the host hotel for the next year’s convention. (E.g., the committee met in New Orleans in late May 2007 for upcoming convention in February 2008.) Over two days, the general organization of the future convention is completed and most key decisions are either made or framed for future resolution. Between the planning meeting and the new convention, individual members work on completing the tasks required for their areas. For example, with exhibits, the tasks involve creating a final floor plan, publishing the prospectus for exhibitors, selling space, and finalizing all booth assignments.

Once the convention arrives, all convention committee members are responsible for their areas on site and also help each other with tasks that develop on the spot or are identified in daily, early morning meetings. It is an intense, highly focused, and exhausting week for the committee but generally very much worth the effort. Our goal is to make the convention a pleasurable experience for the attendees, speakers, and exhibitors. While the convention committee rarely has time to enjoy many of the convention features, the teamwork and successful convention outcomes tend to keep members coming back to the committee year after year.

Q: How are presentations chosen for the convention?

A: There are three kinds of sessions to consider that become part of the convention program in different ways: invited sessions, reviewed sessions, and workshops.

Invited Sessions: The Keynote, Featured Sessions, and Special Sessions are all invited. The convention committee works collaboratively with the NASP President to develop lists of potential Keynote speakers based on the convention theme or other important topical issues. Final decisions depend on speaker availability and affordability. Featured Sessions are invited by the President or the Executive Director. These sessions bring high profile speakers to the Convention who might not otherwise participate. Special Sessions are developed by particular workgroups within NASP. These sessions are typically designed to communicate important information to members associated with a specific workgroup’s area of responsibility. Each year, the President develops one or more “strands” related to the convention theme. He or she then invites particular speakers to fill these strand sessions. Some of the sessions may also come from the reviewed program.

Reviewed Sessions: The bulk of the convention program is built through a very comprehensive submission and masked review process. All submitted proposals for posters, presentations, symposia, and mini-skills sessions go through the same process. Reviewers are recruited through an e-mail solicitation process, targeting the NASP and Trainers' listservs. (You must be a NASP member in order to review proposals.) Volunteers agree to review and rate 30 proposal summaries based on organization and clarity, research base and methodology, relevance to the field, and learning objectives. Proposals are disqualified if they exceed the 800 word limit or if the authors identify themselves in the summary. All proposals are submitted on-line and the review process is also completed on-line. Each proposal is rated by three reviewers resulting in a total score for each proposal. After all the reviews are completed, the scores are ranked in each proposal category (i.e., poster, presentation, symposium, and mini-skills) and a cut-off for admission into the convention program is determined. This score is based on room availability and proposal quality. This is a lengthy process given that we received over 1200 proposals for New Orleans. The time from proposal submission deadline to sending out acceptance letters is only a couple of months so we have a lot of intense work in a short time period. We count on the dedication of NASP members to make the process efficient and fair.

Workshops: Workshops are half and full day sessions that require an additional fee beyond the registration fee. Workshops are chosen by a small subcommittee appointed by the Convention Co-chair for Workshops. Most of these sessions are invited, although a small number are accepted through a review process each year. The selection of workshops is not a masked review. The committee considers the qualifications of each presenter as well as evaluations of the presenter’s work from previous conventions (if the individual is being invited back). The committee also considers workshop attendance on similar topics each year. Feedback from convention attendees provides information about topics that are desirable in the future. Likewise, the evaluation forms for specific workshops often lead to more advanced workshops by the same speakers at future conventions. The goal is to select workshop topics and speakers that have appeal and that have speakers who are not only experts on their topics but have a reputation for being strong presenters.

Our goal is to provide a dynamic, balanced program of sessions that meet a diverse range of attendee needs. Thanks to our many volunteers each year, we bring more than 900 sessions to each convention.

Q: Why are some rooms so crowded?

A: First each year, we attempt to identify "hot" topics and popular presenters and put those sessions in larger rooms. However, it is very difficult to predict which sessions will be most popular. Second, even when we want to put sessions in larger rooms, they often are not available. Convention hotels tend to suffer from "Goldilocks Syndrome," in which many rooms are too small, some are too big, and very few are just right. We recommend that attendees select several sessions in each time slot so that they can go to another choice if the first room is too crowded. We place the reviewed sessions as close together as possible to facilitate movement from one session to another.

Q: Why doesn't NASP provide coffee outside of workshop and session rooms?

A: Coffee provided by hotels costs around $70-$90 per gallon (equivalent to 30 cups). To provide coffee in any meaningful quantity would mean an increase in registration fees. Our attendees typically give feedback that keeping registration costs low is a very high priority, so we skip the coffee and stand in the Starbucks line.

Q: What happened to the exhibitors who sell jewelry, clothing, or novelty items?

A: The Exhibit Hall serves two purposes at the convention. First, and foremost, the hall offers convention attendees a chance to enhance their convention experience by being able to browse the booths to examine new products and services, to visit association related displays, to obtain information from allied professional groups, and to learn about sources of professional development, graduate coursework or employment. Exhibitors offer their products at significant discounts at the convention. In addition, the hall is a significant source of revenue for NASP. By attracting and maintaining quality exhibitors, NASP is able to offset costs that would otherwise need to be included in higher convention registration fees. Because convention is focused on professional development, exhibitors with products directly related to the practice of school psychology have priority for exhibit space. Occasionally, when we have extra space or unsold booths we do fill in with such vendors.

Q: Why isn’t there more free stuff in the exhibit hall? If you do not get there early, it’s all gone.

A: Most exhibitors come to NASP to either market their products or have a more visible presence with our members. While most exhibitors save small trinkets or candy for those who visit their display, a few large companies have regularly dispensed more significant items at the grand opening of the hall over the past several years. As a result, large crowds have regularly congregated outside the hall prior to opening and rushed to these booths first. Both exhibitors and attendees alike have complained about the large crowds and full aisles during these openings. We are working with exhibitors to move such distributions away from the openings and spread them throughout the exhibits schedule to encourage more even traffic. Keep in mind that exhibitor giveaways are their method of marketing to our members. They want your business as you go about your professional duties.

Q: Why isn’t the Exhibit Hall open during all convention hours?

A: The Exhibit Hall takes a great deal of time, planning, and coordination to get set up and ready to open. Most years, we cannot even move materials into the space until the day before the convention begins. Building the displays and preparing the hall typically takes at least a day and a half. Each publisher and vendor within the Exhibit Hall has to staff its booths at all times when the Hall is open. We try to balance the needs of attendees (who like long hours for the Exhibit Hall) and the needs of the vendors (who want a reasonable length work day and lots of traffic in the Hall when it is open). The end result is that convention attendees should plan their time in the Exhibit Hall as they do all other convention activities. The Grand Opening is always scheduled at a time when there are no other competing events. Pay attention to the days and times the Hall is open and schedule ample time to wander around the displays. Hall hours are listed in the Convention Program, the Exhibit Hall Directory, and on the marquee at the hall entrance.

Q: Why are the halls so chopped up? Why are the booths not bigger?

A: For the past several years, the exhibit halls have been designed to house approximately 100 to 110 booths. Keep in mind that the hall must be located in a large room that cannot be used for any other function during the convention. Such space is usually in limited supply in most hotels.

Exhibitors purchase booth space in the hall. The bigger the booth, the greater the cost to rent the space. The NASP convention has several large companies with many products that require several booths slots for the display. These companies seek to be as close as possible to the front entrance or main concourse of the hall. Single booth companies will mix in to fill out the plan and also tend to be more heavily concentrated from the middle to the back of the hall. We work very hard to design a floor plan that will have good traffic and move attendees around to all parts so that all exhibitors have a good experience. Hence, the NASP Village and NASP bookstore are usually located opposite of the main entrance. Each convention attendee receives an Exhibit Hall directory as part of their registration packet. The Exhibit Hall Directory has a map of the hall and a listing of each exhibitor to make locating them quite easy.

Q: Why is there no free coffee and food in the hall?

A: Food and drink items are only found in the exhibit hall in two instances. If the hall is large enough to accommodate seating, food may be offered for sale through the hotel food service. Attendees may not realize that most hotels require NASP to guarantee a minimum sales figure to provide food for sale. That means NASP makes up the difference if the minimum is not met. Thus, if food is readily available close by we don’t take the risk. Free beverages or popcorn can only be provided when a sponsor can be found. A single coffee break in the exhibit hall costs $5000. Single 8 oz. soft drinks are unit priced for as much as $5.00. So, the next time you see a sign recognizing an exhibitor as the sponsor of a beverage break, be sure to stop at the booth and express your appreciation!